


The Bird On The Mountain

by WanderingShiren



Series: What Lies Underneath [3]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Exposition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-12-07 00:36:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18227543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WanderingShiren/pseuds/WanderingShiren
Summary: As the rain falls on a school day, Pearl reminisces on her past.





	The Bird On The Mountain

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tweeterbirbs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tweeterbirbs/gifts).



Pearl sighs as she spots the rain out the window.

 

“Looks like Lapis and Peridot won't be coming in today,” she says quietly to nobody.

 

Pearl didn't really mind too much, it just made their group project with Amethyst harder. She was also going to have Steven today.

 

Pearl rubs her hands together nervously, as Amethyst walks up to their shared table.

 

“Hey, P,” Amethyst says rambunctiously, taking a seat at the table. “Uh oh. You've got that look.”

 

“That look?” Pearl asks. Amethyst is much better at reading others than anyone else she knew.

 

“Yeah, the “I'm stressed out so I look like I'm constipated” look,” Amethyst explains.

 

“Hey!” Pearl calls indignantly. “I do  _ not _ look like I'm constipated!”

 

Amethyst snickers at that.

 

“Sure…. Anyways,” she continues. “What's up?”

 

“It's just Lapis and Peridot,” Pearl explains, straightening a strand of her hair. “They're not going to be here today.”

 

“Well, that's okay,” Amethyst places a hand on Pearl’s back. “We're pretty far along anyways, so it probably won't be too bad. I swear, those two skip every time there's rain. I wonder if that’s when they enjoy themselves, ya'know?” Amethyst chuckles under her breath.

 

Anyone could see those two were pining for each other. They just needed some time to sort their thoughts. Days like this though definitely didn't help them.

 

“Who knows?” Pearl shrugs, knowing full well what the problem was for those two. “Maybe they're just afraid of the thunder?” Pearl offers.

 

“I could see that!” Amethyst exclaims, heartily laughing. “Or maybe Peridot doesn't like rain. I swear, she looks so much like a cat at times!”

 

“Haha, yeah,” Pearl scratches the back of her neck. “I guess she does sometimes.”

 

“Well, it's just you and me, anyways,” Amethyst changes the subject. “I don't have class after this. We could go work on it at your house. Or mine, but it's pretty messy.”

 

“Yeah,” Pearl agrees. “That sounds good.”

 

The two stand up from their table. Today was just an allotted project day, so they didn't actually have class.

 

Amethyst pulls her hoodie over her as Pearl gathers up her things. They walk out of the science building together, heading down the road towards the beach. Pearl didn't actually live that far away.

 

They reach the base of a long staircase, leading up to a beach house.

 

“You’ll have to excuse me, Amethyst,” Pearl apologizes. “I need to pick up Rose's son and look after him.”

 

“No problem!” Amethyst shoots her some finger guns. “I love little Ste-man!”

 

Pearl wasn't aware that the two knew each other. Regardless, she walks up the stairs into the beach house.

 

“Pearl!” comes a voice as Pearl opens the door. Followed by a small boy tackle hugging her.

 

“Hello, Steven,” Pearl smiles down at the young boy she catches in her arms.

 

“You're early!” he cries, hugging her tightly.

 

“Yes, and I brought a friend,” Pearl opens the door, holding him over the edge so he can see.

 

“Amethyst?” Steven calls out, “I didn't know you two knew each other!”

 

“Neither did I, until today,” Pearl says, setting Steven down. “We're gonna head to my house. Do you have everything you need?”

 

“Yep, it's all in my backpack!” Steven runs in the door, grabbing the hamburger backpack and a rain coat and slinging them both over his shoulder and hurrying out the door, grabbing onto Pearl's hand.

 

The two walk down the stairs, meeting up with Amethyst.

 

Steven happily hums while swinging his and Pearl’s hands to the beat of the Crying Breakfast Friends theme.

 

“So,” Pearl starts, looking over to her purple haired companion. “How do you two know each other?”

 

“Are you kidding?” Steven asks, chuckling a bit. “Amethyst is a born and bred Beach City native. I've known her for as long as I remember.”

 

“Yeah,” Amethyst confirms. “Me and Ste-man go way back. We used to spend a lot of time on the boardwalk and playing at the arcade.”

 

“Really?” Pearl tilts her head.

 

“Yeah,” Steven confirms, “Amethyst is like a big sister to me!”

 

For the first time, he lets go of Pearl's hand to run over to Amethyst. The two hug, and Amethyst hoists him onto her shoulders.

 

As Pearl watches, she wonders if the Steven has ever used his powers on Amethyst. Steven had set Rose's whole movement in motion.

 

Pearl had been the first to be recruited by Rose.

 

She was surprised. She'd been alone on her mountain for years since her last human contact. Time had forgotten about her and her kind before the mother and son showed themselves to her.

 

Pearl thought they were natives that had forgotten their place. They hadn't even brought an offering to her.

 

She spread her wings to make herself seem bigger to their full size, a good 18 feet. She ruffles her feathers at them, pushing her chest out. She straightens her legs as well, standing at her full height of about 5’10”. She tries to convey her anger at them disturbing her sacred domicile.

 

Then, she unexpectedly felt something she didn't think she would.

 

Fear flushed over her, engulfing her senses. Every instinct within her body had been screaming at her to run, but she found herself frozen in place.

 

With nothing else to do, she withdraws in on herself, this time making herself seem small.

 

The little boy had been gazing at her, curly locks framing chubby cheeks. What she assumed was his mother knelt beside him. She said something to him in a foreign language, tone soft and gentle, as if to calm him.

 

The boy breathes deeply, calming himself as the aura of fear slowly fades with him, replaced by a feeling of security. A calming warmth flows over her, even at the top of this mountain.

 

The boy carefully, gently strolls up to her, reaching out a small hand. She meets it with her beak as he laughs and begins petting it.

 

The woman takes something from out of her hiking pack. Unfolding it, the rose-locked woman holds it up so she can see. It's a letter, thankfully written in Chinese.

 

_ We're sorry for the disturbance. We made our way up this mountain to find you. We're from a small town in America known as Beach City, of which I am the head of the school. My name is Rose Quartz and that is my son, Steven. _

 

_ To make a really long story short, we have information that a particular group may want you detained and have sent out sects to hunt you down and capture you. _

 

_ I know it may be sudden or a bit too much to ask, but we would like you to come back with us to America, to hide amongst the humans and hopefully save you from that group. _

 

_ We understand if you don't believe us. We are just offering a safe place for you to come to and call home. _

 

She was wary of these two. The boy seemed harmless enough, but she'd never known a human to be too trustworthy.

 

However, when she gazed upon the mother, she didn't see a trace of dishonesty in her eyes. She looked determined, calm, even a bit worried.

 

She looked down at the small boy, still happily petting her beak. She felt a twinge of that joy he was experiencing begin to flow into her as suddenly the pieces began to fall into place.

 

Pearl hadn't realized they'd arrived at her apartment until she'd opened the door, stepping into the wooden entrance. Pearl removes her shoes by the door and asks Steven and Amethyst to do the same before walking into her kitchen.

 

She grabs out a teapot for herself and a carton of lemonade for Steven.

 

“Amethyst?” Pearl gently calls, trying not to disturb the two's conversation. “What would you like to drink?”

 

“Do you have any soda?” Amethyst peers at her from the dining room table.

 

Pearl sighs at that. How like her.

 

“No, I don't keep any because I can't stand the taste.” It wasn't a total lie. She hated the sickeningly sweet concoction that Americans called soda. Even their lemonade was far too sweet for her taste, that's why she made her own.

 

“Oh, are you making tea?” Amethyst tilts her head curiously.

 

“Yes,” Pearl affirms. “Would you like some?”

 

“Sure! Do you have more than one kind?”

 

Pearl was pleasantly surprised that Amethyst seemed to be interested in tea. She rattles off a list of types she had, stopping at Earl Grey, when Amethyst confirmed that was the kind she wanted.

 

Pearl decides she’ll also have Earl Grey, as she didn't want to deal with the hassle of a second pot.

 

She moves heated pot onto the dining room table with a hot pad under it, then returns to the kitchen to grab three cups and the carton of lemonade she made for Steven. She drops four ice cubes into his cup and sets everything down on the table.

 

Amethyst was helping Steven with his math, explaining concepts and helping him when he made a mistake.

 

Amethyst seems to change to Steven's rapidly changing moods quickly. Going from happily joking along with him, to cheering him up when he got sad about his bad math. Pearl thinks this may be because of Steven's powers and potentially his lack of control.

 

This is why Steven was homeschooled. Imagine a full class of 12 year-olds crying uncontrollably and no one knew why.

 

“You okay, Pearl?” Amethyst turns her attention to the new arrival at the table. “You've been kinda spacey today.”

 

Amethyst was always like this. Pearl knows there's no one Amethyst couldn't read like a book. Even people she'd just met.

 

“I'm fine, Amethyst,” Pearl says calmly. “Just thinking about my home is all.”

 

“You mean your home in China?” Amethyst reflects. “What was it like there?”

 

Steven tenses up at that, but Pearl remains calm. She’s been asked this question many times before.

 

“It was nice,” Pearl says. “I lived in a province beside mount Heng Shan South called Hunan. It's a village with a large river running through it.”

 

“Really?” Amethyst sounds astonished. “That sounds so cool!”

 

Pearl chuckles at her enthusiasm.

 

“Either way,” Pearl states, “We should probably work on our own project.”

 

Amethyst nods in agreement, scooching her chair over beside Pearl's as the taller girl opened her computer.

 

As the two work on their PowerPoint, Pearl can’t stop the smile that overtakes her face at the two friends she has with her.


End file.
